Foundation launches new sports project for disabled people | Foundation

The Wolves Foundation has launched a large-scale new project, Sporting Chances, aimed at encouraging more young people with disabilities to get involved in physical and sporting activities in the city and surrounding areas.

Thanks to a substantial grant from the National Lottery Community Fund, the Foundation will provide activities for young people aged 11 to 25 with SEND (Special Education Needs & Disabilities) at sites across Wolverhampton and the Black Country.

This exciting new project will see sessions delivered in educational settings during after-school clubs, in community venues in the evenings and weekends, with also the development of three multi-sport hubs for disabled people, including the Aldersley Arena, and workshops around issues such as mental health, wellbeing and basic living. SKILLS.

“The Wolves Foundation is delighted to have won this Big Lottery bid for a project to encourage more disabled people to become physically active,” says Rachel Smith, the Foundation’s Programs Manager for Improving Health and community sport.

“As well as leading different types of physical activity in educational settings and community centers, it is also about learning life skills including financial management and communication.

“These sessions will complement the learning around PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) that young people already receive, and are designed to help them become independent and socially empowered where possible. We all know the enormous benefits that sport and physical activity can bring to people of all ages. This project is a great opportunity for us to remove barriers to participation for SEND individuals.

“At the Foundation we have run the hugely successful Wolves Disability Football scheme for many years, something thousands of Wolves fans know about through the incredible half-time matches which have taken place during our annual Focus.

“Disability football will remain a key part of our overall community sport offering but, with this new funding, we can expand our offering to incorporate multi-sport provision at several different hubs in Wolverhampton and across the Black Country. .

“This is a really exciting project that we’re excited to deliver as we approach 2025.”

There are currently 7,834 children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities in the city of Wolverhampton, which equates to one in six children, or 17% of the school population.

The Foundation has already developed strong links with SEND schools in the Black Country over the last 15 years and has worked closely with Wolverhampton City Council to enable children and young people with disabilities to become strong and healthy through physical activity and strengthen their resilience. .

This project will help to strengthen the existing offer, especially as partner organizations have revealed the need to offer more sessions after school, at weekends and during school holidays.

A consultation process carried out by the Foundation also showed that children and young people with disabilities often face other barriers when it comes to getting involved in sport and physical activity.

This new project, open to young people aged 11 to 25 with SEND needs, will expand the Foundation’s disability sport offering and see Wolves’ official charity become one of the largest providers of sessions for people disabled people in the city.

The Foundation’s Sporting Chances project was officially launched with a major Christmas event at the Hollywood Bowl at Bentley Bridge, where 80 young participants were able to enjoy a few matches and meet Wolves Women players Anna Morphet, Tammi George, Abi Loydon and Amelia Hiscox.

Morphet, the women’s captain, is also a Foundation ambassador who has previously visited activities organized by the charity involving disability sport.

“We know how much sport brings us together, and it’s all about raising awareness and giving as many opportunities to as many people as possible,” she said.

“From talking to some of the guys who play for the handicap team, we know how much they love it.

“They also know how much the Foundation supports them, so I’m really happy that that awareness is there.” »

Sessions currently delivered as part of Sporting Chances include:

Monday: 5 p.m. – 6 p.m. Under-16 pan-disability football. Bilston College, Wellington Road, WV14 6BT.
Monday: 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. Pan-handicap football for over-16s. Bilston College, Wellington Road, WV14 6BT.
Tuesday: 5 p.m.-6 p.m. Multisport for 11-18 year olds. The Ashmore Park Hub, Griffiths Drive, WV11 2LH.

These sessions will resume after Christmas on January 6^th and 7^thwith new, more exciting sessions launching in 2025.

If you have a child with SEND needs and would like to share your thoughts on activities Sporting Chances could offer, please take five minutes to complete the following questionnaire: